MPG really isn't that different chinscoop/no-chinscoop so... what is your deciding factor?

I love these threads

 

Dude…sure it makes sense, high horsepower power numbers aren’t that important if the job at hand requires towing or moving heavy loads. You said yourself in other threads that even though the capacities of the 3rd Gen vs 4th Gen are nearly identical, the 4th is going to tow much better because it has more torque available at a lower rpm. Horsepower between the two is the same.

Not even sure why you went on the tangent you did, I mean I do…you often miss points again and again. Do find it mildly entertaining, otherwise I wouldn’t spin you up.

Higher horsepower engines tend not to tow well, really hard to get them going off the line. You can take two identical trucks one built for high horsepower speed, the other built for lowend torque. Know which one I would pick for towing.

 

The ignore feature is nice.

 

Without reading all that I can still deduce I'm not the most annoying poster on here. That is both a relief and a letdown. It leaves me with mixed emotions.

Regarding the mpg's of the Tacoma and other mid-size trucks, a lot of good points were discussed. One point that tends to get overlooked is that the Tacoma is turning a real 4WD truck driveline with heavy duty components like transfer cases, that have multiple gear ranges etc. This all introduces frictional losses not found in a vehicle like a Highlander that has a car driveline.

 

Probably me…


True. Shame it isn’t much better (sometimes worse) than a full-size.

 

You two aren’t even in the top 5.

 

Lol!

 

I don't know why people are debating torque or horse power, I'd rather have more of both.

But on a truck, if you have to choose one, torque is what you want more of if you tow.

My biggest complaint with the 4th gen is about what it isn't. It's not a small affordable truck, it's a midsize truck starting well above 30k. Toyota doesn't sell compact BOF vehicles anymore (in USA).

 

Gone are the days of Toyota being the basic practical little economical truck.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyHBKX29_Q8

 

The whole reason the trucks got so big was the CAFE rules. They convinced people that they wanted a larger truck, but Toyota wanted it too because it meant they had to meet lower standards. If you wanted or needed more truck, the T100/Tundra existed.

You might get more truck for your money, but at the end of the day they still get more of your money.

 

My thoughts are this. Take a mid-size and a full-size that are both leisurely rolling down the same highway at the same speed under the same conditions. They have roughly equal work to do overcoming aerodynamic drag, driveline friction, etc. They need to produce roughly the same amount of power. And if just cruising like this, their engines are both operating at the low end of their output range.

If the two engines are equally efficient under these conditions, despite their size difference, they are going to burn the same amount of fuel. The result is similar MPGs. Now consider that the larger engine of the full-size might be slightly more efficient under this low load scenario...

When it comes to the aerodynamic drag part of the equation, I wonder how the mid-size compares to the full-size. It seems to me the longer brick might have a little less drag than the shorter one. The coefficients of friction for a highway speed scenario are probably out there somewhere. If I get bored enough, I might try to find them.

 

There is a Facebook group called “Dull Man’s Club”.

My wife suggested that I join…

 

Part of me wished they stayed small and simple, that was until I almost dragged home an early 80s pickup for a project vehicle, test drove it and said “wow! this thing is small!” Then decided not to.

Thought the T100 and 1st Gen Tundra were the perfect sized trucks, guess we are getting it with the 3rd Gen, believe the 4th Gen is even closer, will have to look up the dimensions.

Definitely not cheap little trucks anymore. Still the base SR 2WD isn’t too bad at $31,500. More truck than most need. Get a lot of options on it standard where most of the extra charges come from. My ‘85 4Runner didn’t have air conditioning or a rear seat, hand crank windows.

 

The 2.4 has more power until it hits redline.

People hate to rev their shit. I drove 4cyl compacts in the past.

 

You forgot the $1495 destination charge on that SR, $32,995 for a Base SR 2 Wheel Drive is not exactly a bargain.

 

The 3.5 V6 and the 2.4 T4 make 278@6000 rpm. Manual trans 2.4 is down a bit at 270@5400 rpm

It but yeah, people hate to rev out engines, I remember the 22R days, used to ringing it’s neck to get it down the road. At least Toyota is finally addressing the lack of lowend torque after all these years.

 

It isn’t exactly a bargain per se, but in today’s market with top trim mid-size trucks pushing $60K…doesn’t seem all that bad in the big scheme of things.

If a person doesn’t really need a truck, a base RAV4 is probably the more reasonable option, plus will get better gas mileage (lots of people complaining the new Tacoma isn’t getting better fuel economy) has the same tow capacity of 3500 lbs. Will haul more than most Tacoma beds, guessing majority of truck owners only need the bed a handful of times.

Assuming with these higher prices, it will push some people out of the midsize truck market. While I use the hell out of my truck, certainly could by with a CUV.

 

A 2 wheel drive truck would be useless to me, by the time you step up to 4 wheel drive SR and add taxes you are over $40K which is ridiculous.

 

Could make a 2WD work, heck my old Isuzu Trooper was RWD, good set of snow tires I could get back and forth to work no problem, while 4WD Jeeps on mudders would be all over the road. If it got really bad out there, toss on tire chains. A pain in the neck, it will however get you down the road, usually better than most 4WDs without chains. Only paid a dollar for that vehicle, so really couldn’t complain.

Yeah $40K OTD is a bit steep for 4WD, my ‘21 SR ACLB 4WD V6 was $32,500 msrp iirc (will have to double check the paperwork) $39K OTD. A ‘24 XtraCab 4WD is $34,700 msrp. Not a huge increase even loosing some conveniences. Hate this saying, but “it is what it is”. Never been 100% happy with how Toyota bundles their packages, so have to make compromises.

 

Alright I didn't mean to post the first draft but I'm impaired

arguing about torque and power is maybe silly / semantic only because they are related



My prior post is still accurate.